China’s export sector showed resilience last month, even as the Strait of Hormuz crisis showed little sign of abating after driving up energy and shipping costs. The value of China’s exports rose in April by 14.1 per cent, year on year, to US$359.44 billion, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs on Saturday. The reading was above the 6.96 per cent growth forecast comp...
China’s export sector showed resilience last month, even as the Strait of Hormuz crisis showed little sign of abating after driving up energy and shipping costs. The value of China’s exports rose in April by 14.1 per cent, year on year, to US$359.44 billion, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs on Saturday. The reading was above the 6.96 per cent growth forecast compiled by financial data provider Wind. Meanwhile, the value of imports grew by 25.3 per cent last...
Earnings Call Insights: Koppers Holdings Inc. (KOP) Q1 2026 Management view “Our conditional decision to begin immediately winding down production at our Stickney, Illinois facility, with a target to cease distillation by the end of this year,” (Chairman & CEO Leroy M. Ball) framed the quarter around a major CM&C restructuring, with the decision “subject to the satisfaction of any bargaining oblig...
Earnings Call Insights: Koppers Holdings Inc. (KOP) Q1 2026 Management view “Our conditional decision to begin immediately winding down production at our Stickney, Illinois facility, with a target to cease distillation by the end of this year,” (Chairman & CEO Leroy M. Ball) framed the quarter around a major CM&C restructuring, with the decision “subject to the satisfaction of any bargaining obligations that might exist with the union.” “After the most recent plant closure we announced earlier this year of Algoma Steel, the number has now dropped to 350,000 metric tons,” (Chairman & CEO Ball) describing North American coal tar availability versus “approximately 565,000 metric tons” at the time of the company’s 2016 U.S. CM&C closures, which he said pressured “raw material pricing,” “throughput,” and “higher unit costs.” “The discontinuation of production activities at Stickney is anticipated to result in pretax charges to earnings of $227 million to $262 million through the end of 2029,” (Chairman & CEO Ball) including “$170 million to $195 million of noncash charges” expected in Q2 and Q3 2026, and “cash closure charges of $57 million to $67 million” over three years starting Q2 2026. “We’re tentatively targeting fourth quarter of 2026 for shifting production to our coal tar distillation facility in Nyborg Denmark,” (Chairman & CEO Ball) adding that Koppers expects to invest “between $10 million to $15 million” over the next few years to strengthen the Denmark-to-U.S. supply chain while remaining within “our annual $55 million maintenance CapEx.” “We estimated that the adjusted EBITDA savings related to this action will reach an annual run rate of $15 million to $20 million in 2027 and beyond,” (Chairman & CEO Ball) and said this would mean a “75 to 100 basis point bump in adjusted EBITDA margin,” while “translating the adjusted EBITDA benefit to adjusted EPS would result in an increase of $1 to $1.20 per share.” “We reported consolidated first quarter sales of $45...
Shares of digital advertising specialist The Trade Desk (NASDAQ: TTD) tumbled on Friday morning after the company reported its first-quarter results late Thursday. The sell-off added to what has already been a brutal stretch for the growth stock, which is now down more than 40% year to date. So is the steep pullback finally a chance to get into a name once viewed as a high-quality way to play the ...
Shares of digital advertising specialist The Trade Desk (NASDAQ: TTD) tumbled on Friday morning after the company reported its first-quarter results late Thursday. The sell-off added to what has already been a brutal stretch for the growth stock, which is now down more than 40% year to date. So is the steep pullback finally a chance to get into a name once viewed as a high-quality way to play the shift of advertising dollars to the open internet? Or is the stock's recent beating justified? Despite the stock's meaningful decline this year, I'll be staying on the sidelines -- at least for now. Continue reading
HJBC/iStock Editorial via Getty Images PVH Corp. ( PVH ), the owner of the Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger brands, has been performing well since their latest earnings release in late March. Despite the strong macroeconomic headwinds, including historically weak consumer confidence and an unfavorable tariff environment, PVH's share price increased by more than 30%. The aim of my article today is t...
HJBC/iStock Editorial via Getty Images PVH Corp. ( PVH ), the owner of the Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger brands, has been performing well since their latest earnings release in late March. Despite the strong macroeconomic headwinds, including historically weak consumer confidence and an unfavorable tariff environment, PVH's share price increased by more than 30%. The aim of my article today is to present you with a few pros and cons of whether it is still worth buying the stock after this run-up or not. My discussions will concentrate on sales and profitability, share buybacks, and valuation. Sales and profitability Despite the strong macroeconomic headwinds, including poor consumer sentiment, PVH managed to deliver top-line growth in the mid-single digits. At the same time, however, the bottom line came in at -$158.3 million. So let us dive deeper into what was driving the sales growth and what was driving the loss. Results (PVH Corp) When it comes to the bottom line result, the key driver of the loss was the huge increase in income tax expense, as a result of a $480 million goodwill and other intangible assets impairment. In the 10-K , the firm explicitly mentions that this was a result of an increase in discount rates. While it always looks unappealing that a firm is generating a net loss, I am not very much concerned about it now, as it was a non-cash charge, and it is temporary in nature and not likely to keep negatively impacting the operations going forward. Statement of operations (PVH Corp) Let us now break down the revenue. I find it attractive that all geographic segments in the most recent quarter posted growth compared to the year-ago quarter. EMEA - the largest region by revenue - grew at a rate of roughly 8%. The smallest region - APAC - grew at the lowest rate at 0.3%, but still in the positive territory. Also, revenue from each brand grew, with Tommy Hilfiger growing at 6.6% while Calvin Klein grew at 3.3%. In my view, this is attractive because t...
jetcityimage/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Units of Sunoco LP ( SUN ) have been a strong performer over the past year, gaining 18% alongside its distribution. The MLP has a solid balance sheet and stable fee-driven revenue growth, which support gradual distribution increases, while past M&A has been well-timed and soundly integrated into results. The recent volatility in petroleum markets has ...
jetcityimage/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Units of Sunoco LP ( SUN ) have been a strong performer over the past year, gaining 18% alongside its distribution. The MLP has a solid balance sheet and stable fee-driven revenue growth, which support gradual distribution increases, while past M&A has been well-timed and soundly integrated into results. The recent volatility in petroleum markets has also offered incremental margin opportunity, and this was apparent in solid Q1 results. I last covered Sunoco in February , rating the stock a “buy” given its long runway of distribution growth, and since then, units are up a solid 8%. With updated financials and a much-changed macro environment, now is a good time to revisit SUN. Seeking Alpha In the first quarter , Sunoco earned $2.85, which blew past estimates by $1.13. Revenue more than doubled to $10.7 billion, reflecting the acquisition of Parkland last year, which distorts year-over-year financial comparisons. EBITDA was $867 million, and results benefited from a one-time $102 million gain on the sale of inventory as SUN profited from the surge in prices. Importantly, the Parkland integration is on track and set to deliver $125 million of in-year cost savings with run-rate synergies of at least $250 million. Sunoco Drilling deeper into results, in its fuel distribution segment, Sunoco generated $538 million of EBITDA. Volumes were 3.8 billion gallons, and margins hit $0.17 per gallon. This more than doubled last year’s $220 million, but it was flattered by the one-time inventory sale of $92 million. Its $0.17 margin was up from $0.115 last year, and periods of market volatility generally create greater margin opportunity. With ongoing supply disruptions, I expect a favorable margin environment to persist at least into Q3 before migrating to a more normal mid-to-lower teens environment. I do believe the risks are skewed to margins staying wider for longer. Pipeline EBITDA was $179 million with 1.3 mbd of throughput. T...